Scarlet Traces: The Great Game
by Gusty bv
Summary: Sequel to Scarlet Traces. A year has passed since that fateful Halloween night. As the holiday once again approaches, Little Taffy finds herself overtaken with the pain of loss for the Bloodsucker she never truly got to know. That is...until Six decides to appear before the Toon once more.
1. Prologue

It's been years since Power of the Wol and I laid the groundwork for the Scarlet Traces trilogy. And now I am finally getting to writing this story. It has been sitting on the back burner for long enough now. It's time this story was told. Even if I don't finish it by the end of October, I will keep going until the end. I hope you will enjoy this long coming sequel to Scarlet Traces.

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><p><span><strong>Prologue<strong>

_Old_ _Hallows Eve; the day made famous by our ancestor Vladimir Bloodsucker, the father of our kind. He started the tradition of our yearly feast, one that continued on for many generations. That is…until Master Jeremiah Bigwig's son, the Chief Justice, took over as our permanent leader. He decided to change all of that. Our yearly practice was too barbaric for a Cog; and what the Toons do to our kind is not?_

_He made us swear not to kill the Toons on our day, in exchange for at least getting to capture them. For a while, it was a fair trade off. Fair until he decided one year to then deny us even that tradition. That year, last year, everything went wrong. It was when Bloodsucker 606-6 fell in love with a Toon, _twice_ I might add, and brought about the end of our secret operations. _

_Our machine that we'd worked so hard on was destroyed; the machine that drained the blood out of Toons for us so we weren't breaking the rules of biting Toons. After that incident and our plans discovered, every Bloodsucker was demoted back into a lowly Bottomfeeder. 606-6 has disgraced us all…_

_Now there can only be a minority of us at a time so we can be closely monitored; and our Holiday has been lost forever. At least Chief Justice would like to think so…_

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><p>118-1 looked amongst his assembled brothers with a quiet, blank expression as they glanced about the room in confusion and grief. There were only five of his batch left now, himself included; Two, Five, Six, and their youngest, Eight. Over the course of a year Three, Four, and Nine had been lost in fights with Toons. Then there was Seven, who had died trying to defend their cause against 606-6, the traitorous Cog. The silence amongst his little siblings was finally broken by Eight.<p>

"Why did we have to come here," he sniffed, oily tears forming in his eyes, "I-isn't this where Seven died, One?"

"Because," he answered, "here we can converse undisturbed. No Cog dares enter this space. Besides, Seven is the topic of choice my brothers."

The assembled brothers fidgeted uneasily in the silence that followed until Five spoke up, "I knew Seven shouldn't have trusted 606-6...look where it got him."

"Funny you mention that Five. It's true that 606-6 is the one who caused our brother death... but what was his real reason for attacking Seven in the first place?"

There was a long pause, as if they did not wish to say it. The youngest piped up once more.

"…That Toon…" replied Eight.

Five snorted at the mention of her and Six frowned. One nodded curtly in response to his youngest, "Had he not fallen for her like he did the other, 606-6 wouldn't have been so inclined to protect her. Now that we've all been re-promoted to Bloodsuckers, I thought it a good time to inform you, my brothers, of how I plan to get back at that wretched Toon."

"H-how will we do that…?" Eight sniffed, wiping the tears from his eyes.

Powerful, yet quiet foot steps entered the room a moment later. One's eyes tracked them to the source and smirked. Their guest of honor had arrived. The rest of the 118 batch swiveled around to face the unknown visitor in the room. Their faces froze in shock and awe at who stood there before them.

In response to Eight's question One replied with a smirk, "By acquiring the aid of a certain...ally to our cause…"


	2. Ch 1: A Familiar Face

First Chapter of Scarlet Traces: The Great Game! Hopefully Chapter Two will join it in a few days time.

Characters belong to both myself and Power of the Wol

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 1: A Familiar Face<span>**

"There we go, that's the last one Roxy."

The blue feline looked over at the hanging bats on one of the trees next to her house and grinned, "Those look perfect Taffy!"

"Thanks! Seven, how are things up there going?" Little Taffy asked, looking towards the roof.

The Telemarketer was busy hanging a strand of orange lights along the edge of the roofline, "Almost finished on my end, Miss Taffy."

Little Taffy quirked an eyebrow at the Cog, "Seven, you don't have to call me 'Miss Taffy', you goof."

Seven smiled back, "Sorry, just a habit," he replied.

Climbing down from the step ladder, Taffy stood back to admire her work on the tree when her watch alarm beeped reminding her of the time, "Oh shoot, is it that late already? I need to get home. Pearl and I are getting up early tomorrow to go buy our costumes for Halloween before they're all gone."

Seven looked skyward and noticed the sun was setting, "Goodness, you're right. Where did the time go? I've got to get back to Sellbot myself."

"I need to get to bed soon too," Roxy agreed, rubbing her eyes, "Thank you both for the help! It would have taken me forever to put these up by myself."

"Any time, Roxy," Little Taffy smiled, winding her scarf around her neck.

"Indeed," Seven replied before he hovered down from the roof.

He stepped over to Roxy and gave her kiss. Taffy looked off to the side, her throat feeling tight, "W-well, I'm gonna get going…goodnight!"

Roxy broke off the kiss in time to see Little Taffy walking away at a rather brisk pace. She was about to call out a goodbye, but her friend had already gone out of ear shot. She sighed and looked over at Seven. He looked back, his face sharing the same look.

"Perhaps we should have waited until she left, especially with it so close to Halloween," he pondered aloud.

"Maybe you're right. I hope she'll be okay."

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><p>Little Taffy kicked at a pile of leaves neatly collected along the curb of the street as she walked; not caring if they stuck to her pant legs. She glanced up at the night sky, the half-moon grinning back like the Cheshire Cat. But the lump in her chest was far more distracting, and she could feel it growing by the minute. It was hard to believe a year had almost gone by since she had met that Bloodsucker.<p>

"I hardly knew you at all, Six…yet I can't seem to stop thinking about you. What's wrong with me?"

For a moment, Taffy thought she saw Six's smile reflected in the face of the moon, and felt her resolve begin to waver. She finally came to a stop, her body shaking with sobs. The Toon frantically wiped at her eyes, shaking her head in self-disapproval.

"Stop crying. You promised you wouldn't anymore. Not for Lilly, not for him. Six wouldn't have wanted that…" she sniffed, looking back at the moon, "Who am I kidding? I don't know what he'd really want, and I never will."

After a moment of allowing herself to calm down, Little Taffy started her up her stroll once more, eyes on the ground. Something shifted to her left and she glanced over to see what it was. But the alleyway was dark, and she assumed it to be a loose Doodle digging in the trash. She turned to keep walking when a voice called out to her, "…Taffy…" it whispered.

She froze, rooted to the spot as her eyes darted around. No one. Swallowing, she glanced around, "Whoever's doing that, knock it off! You're not funny," she shouted. But there was no one to speak of. She sighed and rubbed her head, "Great, now I'm hearing t-"

"…Taaaffy…" the voice whispered once more, drawing out the syllables of her name.

Ears perking up at the noise, she turned back to the alleyway. Now that she looked at it again, she thought she could see the faint silhouette of someone standing there in the dark. She hissed at it, reaching for one of the gags in her backpack, "W-who's there?! You better show yourself!"

"Are you quite sure?"

Little Taffy growled, readying a cream pie, "Cut the act, you creep or I start lobbing gags! Come out of there!"

"…As you wish," he replied, taking a few steps forward. The darkness slipped away from his form as he stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was a Bloodsucker, his skin a bit marred and grime laden from what one would expect of a Cog. He looked her in the eyes and smiled softly.

"Hello again, Taffy."

Taffy held his gaze for a long time, the beat of her heart ringing in her ears. Again? He spoke as if they had met before. But she had only ever given her name to one Bloodsucker that she could recall. And that was…

"S-Six?" She stammered, backing away. The pie slipped from her hand, splatting onto the pavement, "No…this is wrong. It's impossible. You're not real."

"If you say so. But am I not standing right here in front of you?"

Little Taffy, "I saw you die! I held you in my arms. I…I've gone crazy, haven't I? This is a dream…a delusion. Y-You're not really there, Six! You can't be!"

He frowned and took a step closer, "It seems you need proof," he sighed and held out his hand to her, "Take my hand."

The Toon shook her head, covering her ears and shutting her eyes, "You're not real!"

"Taffy…take my hand."

"I saw you die," she shouted, taking a step back, "You're dead! You-ah!"

Little Taffy's foot stepped on the pie and she fell backwards. When she was able to catch her breath she sat up. Six was hovering in front of her a few feet away, "J-just go away!"

He frowned at her, his eyes appearing sad, "Why don't you trust me?" Six asked, taking a few steps closer, "I thought…I thought we were friends at least?"

"We are. We were!" She looked at him, tears clouding her vision, "How can you possibly be alive?"

"It took a long time. But they found a way to bring me back," he answered quietly, extending his hand to her once more, "So here I am. I've come back for you, Taffy."

Disbelief still etched on her face, Taffy sat there a whimpering mess. Six's eyes softened, "Take my hand, Taffy."

"I'm scared…" She whispered.

"What do you think's going to happen?"

"I…I don't know."

"It's alright to be scared, you know. The first leap is always the hardest to make. But you have to trust me. Take my hand."

Taffy stared at it a moment longer before she reached to hesitantly grasp it. She thought for sure he would simply vanish like smoke when their hands met. But she was surprised to find that it was not only solid, but very warm. Six slowly helped the Toon to her feet and steadied her. The look of doubt on her face suggested she might suddenly collapse from shock, but instead she embraced him. He was surprised by the sudden gesture, but returned it with a hug of his own. Faintly muffled sobs could be heard coming from the Toon as she buried her face into his suit.

Six shushed her, petting her head, "It's alright Taffy. I'm here."

"I-I missed you so much…"

"I know…I'm sorry. I waited so long for this moment."

He felt the Toon latch onto him tighter. Six patted her on the head once more, eliciting a purr from Little Taffy. He sighed, sounding almost sad, as he looked off to the side, "I only wish I could stay longer."

"W-what?" the Toon stuttered, looking up at him with her tear-stained face.

"I snuck out to come see you. So I don't have much time."

"Y-you can't just leave! Not after all this time-"

Six cut her off, "Taffy…I would stay if I could, you know that…" he sighed again, "You'll see me again as soon as I get the chance."

She sniffed and looked up at the Cog. He smiled back and patted her head once more before stepping back from her. He engaged his flight propeller before kicking off from the ground and disappearing into the night sky.

A cold wind swept at Little Taffy's hair and scarf, and she pulled it tighter around her neck. Had that really just happened? It seemed so surreal. But she had touched him. Felt the warmth in his body. It had to have been real. The breeze picked up again and suddenly she didn't feel like walking the rest of the way home. She pulled out her black hole, plopped it on the ground, and jumped inside.

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><p>The 118 batch had perched themselves on the roof of a shop building not too far away. One was anxiously pacing about in front of the other four. Two and Five were watching him, feeling a bit unnerved from the constant motion. Six and Eight were sitting a little off to the side. Eight was rubbing his eyes, as if tired. They were all supposed to have turned in for the night by now, and he was starting to feel his power supply getting low. He hoped this wouldn't take too much longer so they could go home and recharge for the night. Eight perked up when his ears caught the sound of a Cog propeller in the distance. All of the brothers looked skyward to see 606-6 descending. He lighted on the roof before them, and smirked.<p>

"She took the bait."

One returned the grin, "Excellent. Everything is slowly falling into place."

118-6 frowned and stood up, "One, if I may, you really haven't told us what you plan to accomplish with all this."

"Yeah, I mean, what's the point?" Eight yawned, rubbing his eyes again, "Why don't we just kidnap, kill her, and be done with it?"

Two nodded at Eight's question, "I agree with Eight. Why go to all this trouble?"

One hissed, his fangs gleaming in the light from the moon, "Because she deserves to suffer as we did. You all know how it felt to lose Seven. I want her to experience that tenfold! And when she is in the deepest pits of despair, then and only then will we kill her. Does no one else believe she deserves such a fate?"

"Well, since you put it that way," Two answered, standing up, "Let's make her suffer," he grinned.

There was a round of agreement from the other siblings and 606-6 smirked at the universal agreement. He cleared his throat to get their attention, and the 118 batch turned to face him.

"I'm glad we're all on the same page about Miss Taffy. I look forward to the day when her existence will no longer disgrace the Lawbot name. Now then, gentlemen, what do we intend to do about the Chief Justice?"

"He deserves some form of payback for his part in ruining our plans," One frowned, "As to what, I am not sure…"

"The Chief Justice is a very proud Cog. He prides himself on his propriety. If you discredit him in front of his Lawbots, it will demoralize him," 606-6 explained, with a smirk.

"I like this idea," agreed One.

"Yes it's very fitting. He deserves as much for destroying our machine," Five added.

"But how are we going to go about it?" asked Eight.

"You may leave _that_ to me," 606-6 sneered, "I know just what to do."

"Very well then, Six. We look forward to it. You are dismissed," nodded One.

A look of utter disgust morphed across 606-6's face, "_What_ did you say?!"

One realized his mistake all too late and clamped his hands over his mouth, "I-I'm sorry!"

Six seized him by the lapels of his suit and hissed at him, "You may be the one in charge of this little operation, but _do not_ forget who _I_ am!"

The rest of the 118 batched watched in silent horror as their brother squirmed a bit in the other Bloodsucker's grasp, "I-It won't happen again! I promise!"

"It had better not," he snarled, throwing One from his grasp. The startled Bloodsucker landed on the roof before his frightened brothers and looked up at 606-6.

"Y-Yes Sir…"

606-6 snorted, engaging his flight propeller, "_You_ are dismissed," he growled before taking off again to, One assumed, Lawbot Head Quarters. When he had gone, his brothers finally found their voices.

"That was close," breathed Five.

"Are you alright, One?" Six asked, bending down to check on his still shaking elder brother.

"Not if I screw up like that again."

Two frowned a bit, "Yeah, what possessed you to say that, One?"

"It's hard to remember when it was Six's face I was looking at," he sighed, standing up. "Come, my brothers. Let's get back home and get some rest."


End file.
